stalk
1 Americannoun
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the stem or main axis of a plant.
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any slender supporting or connecting part of a plant, as the petiole of a leaf, the peduncle of a flower, or the funicle of an ovule.
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a similar structural part of an animal.
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a stem, shaft, or slender supporting part of anything.
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Automotive. a slender lever, usually mounted on or near the steering wheel, that is used by the driver to control a signal or function.
The horn button is on the turn-signal stalk.
verb (used without object)
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to pursue or approach prey, quarry, etc., stealthily.
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to walk with measured, stiff, or haughty strides.
He was so angry he stalked away without saying goodbye.
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to proceed in a steady, deliberate, or sinister manner.
Famine stalked through the nation.
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Obsolete. to walk or go stealthily along.
verb (used with object)
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to pursue (game, a person, etc.) stealthily.
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to proceed through (an area) in search of prey or quarry.
to stalk the woods for game.
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to proceed or spread through in a steady or sinister manner.
Disease stalked the land.
noun
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an act or course of stalking quarry, prey, or the like.
We shot the mountain goat after a five-hour stalk.
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a slow, stiff stride or gait.
verb
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to follow or approach (game, prey, etc) stealthily and quietly
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to pursue persistently and, sometimes, attack (a person with whom one is obsessed, often a celebrity)
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to spread over (a place) in a menacing or grim manner
fever stalked the camp
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(intr) to walk in a haughty, stiff, or threatening way
he stalked out in disgust
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to search or draw (a piece of land) for prey
noun
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the act of stalking
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a stiff or threatening stride
noun
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the main stem of a herbaceous plant
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any of various subsidiary plant stems, such as a leafstalk (petiole) or flower stalk (peduncle)
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a slender supporting structure in animals such as crinoids and certain protozoans, coelenterates, and barnacles
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any long slender supporting shaft or column
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The main stem of a plant.
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A slender structure that supports a plant part, such as a flower or leaf.
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A slender supporting structure in certain other organisms, such as the reproductive structure in plasmodial slime molds or the part of a mushroom below the cap.
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A slender supporting or connecting part of an animal, such as the eyestalk of a lobster.
Other Word Forms
- stalkable adjective
- stalked adjective
- stalker noun
- stalkless adjective
- stalklike adjective
Etymology
Origin of stalk1
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English stalk(e), apparently equivalent to Old English stal(u) “stave” + -k diminutive suffix; akin to Norwegian dialect stalk, Swedish stjelk, Danish stilk
Origin of stalk2
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English verb stalken, representing the base of Old English bestealcian “to move stealthily”; akin to steal
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Two Los Angeles protesters were convicted late Friday of stalking a U.S.
From Los Angeles Times
A lonely coyote stalks the barren ground around oil pump jacks; a dead deer, its eye milky white, lies on a fern-like blanket of boughs.
Its four sections carry the drama all the way to 1946, seven years after the end of the Civil War, when Ángel is still stalking the mountains.
“Aw, Daisy,” I said as I dried my face on the towel, “corn doesn’t even grow that tall. If it did, you’d have to cut the stalks down with an axe to gather the ears.”
From Literature
The other trolls sniffed too and stalked forward, until they were all right up close.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
